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Study a Verse

Read one verse of Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta with its Bengali, transliteration, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Ādi-līlā · 17 chapters

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Say the verse. Read the transliteration aloud, slowly.
  2. 2Read the word meanings. Go through each word and its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation. Ask: what is happening here, and who is it about?
  4. 4Read the purport slowly. Read it twice. Don't rush.
  5. 5See Lord Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa. Remember who is acting in the pastime.
  6. 6Take one thing into your day. Note one point and one practice.
Read the full guide: how to read Caitanya Caritamrta ›
Ādi-līlā · Chapter 3: The External Reasons for the Appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
Ādi 3.14Ādi 3.16

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Ādi 3.15

সকল জগতে মোরে করে বিধি–ভক্তি ।

বিধি–ভক্ত্যে ব্রজভাব পাইতে নাহি শক্তি ॥ ১৫ ॥

sakala jagate more kare vidhi-bhakti

vidhi-bhaktye vraja-bhāva pāite nāhi śakti

Translation

“Everywhere in the world people worship Me according to scriptural injunctions. But simply by following such regulative principles one cannot attain the loving sentiments of the devotees in Vrajabhūmi.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Rules Alone Cannot Give Vraja’s Love

  1. 1

    Kṛṣṇa says that people throughout the world worship Him according to scriptural injunctions.

  2. 2

    Simply following these regulative principles cannot bring the loving sentiments of the devotees in Vrajabhūmi.

  3. 3

    The verse distinguishes worship according to rules from the loving sentiments of those devotees.

How it feels

Compassion and urgency. The holy name is offered for the age; divine love moves outward toward others.

The mood of Ādi 3 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Ādi 3: The External Reasons for the Appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

From Śrīla Prabhupāda's chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The incarnation for this age especially preaches this process, but only Kṛṣṇa Himself can explain the confidential loving service performed in the four principal varieties of loving affairs between the Supreme Lord and His devotees. Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore personally appeared, with His plenary portions, as Lord Caitanya.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 3
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. sakalaall
  2. jagatein the universe
  3. moreto Me
  4. karethey do
  5. vidhi-bhaktiregulative devotional service
  6. vidhi-bhaktyeby regulative devotional service
  7. vraja-bhāvathe feelings of those in Vraja
  8. pāiteto obtain
  9. nāhinot
  10. śaktithe power
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Vraja-smaraṇa · Remembrance of Vṛndāvana

    The remembered sweetness of Vraja that colors Mahāprabhu’s pilgrimage, Ratha-yātrā, and later states of separation. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “vrajabhūmi”

Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

When you worship, how much attention do you give to loving sentiment rather than only to following the practice?

Practice

Before worship today, pause and express your wish for loving attachment to Kṛṣṇa, not merely correct observance.

Live this todayRules Alone Cannot Give Vraja’s LoveThis verse's lesson: one practice and one question for today

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

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